Car-coupling



H. E. VAN DORN.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION. FILED SEPT. 21. 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

Patented June 29, 1920.

H. E. VAN DORN.

CAR COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED SEPT; 27, I9!!!- 1,344,780. Patented June29, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

4 iillllllllllulialllli filly/Z in jZUl" for 5' 4 A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CAR-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. June '29, 1920.

Application filed September 27, 1919. SerialNo. 327,001.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known thatiI, HERBERT E. VAN Donn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Couplings, and declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and. use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relatesto car couplers of the type in which two opposing heads are intended to be rigidly connected together and it has for'its object to produce a simple and novel construction and arrangement consisting of a few strong rugged parts which will permit automatic coupling, the setting of the locking element in'its release position, and the automatic subsequent tripping of the locking element during the act of uncoupling.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, fora full understanding'of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows two couplers embodying the present invention, arranged in coupled relation, one of the couplers being shown in horizontal section and the other in plan with a fragment broken away; 7

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken through the center of one of the couplers; I

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the locking blocks set in release positions; and I, V

Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately on line lt of Fig. l.-, a

Ref rring tothe drawings, 1 represents a coupler head hollowed out so as to contain a chamber, 2, openingout of the front end of the head. At one side of the head is a forwardly-projecting hook, 3, adaptedto enter the chamber in a cooperating head. The hook has a wedge-shaped or tapered nose, 4, and an outer side face, 5, forming an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the head. The wedge-shaped nose and the inclined cam face, 5, serve to guide the hook properly into the head of an opposing coupler and, if

the two heads are displaced laterally relatively to each other, to bring such heads into alinement. V V i At its base the hook is preferably half as wide as the head so asto provide a vertical longitudinally-extending bearing face, 6, at

about the longitudinalcenter of the head and in the vicinity of-the mouth of the chamber therein. On the outer side of the hook,

just behind the inclined face or cam, 5, is a vertical face, 7, extending parallel with the longitudinal axis of the head. The side wall of the head, on the side opposite that at which the hook is located, has a .vertical face, ,8, extending parallel with the longitudinal axis of the head and lying just within the mouth of the chamber. When two couplers are in coupled relation, the two faces, 6, on the inner sides of the hooks are in engagement with each other, and a face, 7, on the outer side of eachhook engageswith the face 8 in the chamber of the headinto which the hook-projects. In other words,

with each other in such a manner as to prevent relative lateral displacement.

The inner side of each hook, between the face 6 and the nose thereof,is cut away, so

as to form a recess or chamber, 9, bounded on the front side by a transversely-extend ing face or shoulder, 10.; 1

A locking block, 11, is mounted within the head so as to swing about a vertical pin, 12,

lying just within the mouth of the chamber and just behind the inner edge of the base of the hook. The pivotpin for the locking block extends through one end of the block so that the main portion of the block lies behind the pin. The block is so shaped that it substantially fills the recess 9 in the inner side of the hook of a cooperating coupler when two couplers are brought together and the block is properly positioned. The rear end of the block ispreferably.shaped, as

viewed in plan, in the arc of a circle having I,

its center at the pivotal axis of the block; and the face, 10, on the hook is preferably given the same curvature except that it is concave while the end of the'block is convex. The result is that when two couplers are in coupled relation as shown in Fig. 1,

each block being swung into the recess or pocket in the inner side of the adjacent hook, the hooks can be released from the blocks by swinging the latter out of the pockets even though the working faces of the blocks and the hooks be in contact with each other.

lVithin the head, behind the inner end of the hook, is a transverse telescopic rod, 13, connected at one end by a pin, 14, to the block at a point remote from the pivotal axis of the latter, and pivotally connected at its other end to the wall of the coupler as indicated at 15. A compression spring, 16, surrounds the rod and engages at one end with the block and at the other end with a flange or shoulder, 17, on the outer end of the telescopic rod. lVhen the parts are in the positions illustrated in Fig. l, the spring exerts a pressure tending to hold the lockingblock in its locking position. The pins 12, let and 15 are so disposed that when the locking block is swung from its locking position in which it extends longitudinally of the coupler head, as illustrated in Fig. 1, into a position in which it lies behind the corresponding hook, as illustrated in Fig. 2,

the pin, 1%, passes from one side of a straight line joining the pins 12 and 15 to the other side. Consequently when the locking block is brought into its release position, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the spring serves to hold it yieldingly in that position, just as it serves to hold the block yieldingly in its locking position after the block has been brought to that position.

It will be seen that if the locking block happens to be in its locking position when the hook of another coupler enters the chamber in which the block lies, the nose of the hook will press the block laterally so as to permit the hook to enter, whereupon the block will snap into place and automatically lock the hook against retreat. hen the block has been placed in its release position as indicated in Fig. 3, it is desirable that it be automatically tripped by the retreating hook when the coupler heads separate to set it for recoupling. In order to bring about an automatic tripping of the locking block, I provide it with an ear or projection, 18, on the pivotal end which, when the block lies in the release position, is spaced apart from the opposite wall or face, 8, of the coupler head a distance less than the width of the front or outer end of the hook. Consequently, when the couplers begin to separate from each other after the locking blocks have been set in their release positions, the hooks will engage the projections, 18, on the locking blocks and will positively swing the blocks against the tensions of their springs through an angle sufficient to cause the springs to act on the blocks in a direction to swing the blocks into their locking positions. Therefore the locking blocks will be automatically tripped and place the couplers in condition for automatic re coupling after an uncoupling operation. Each hook may have an additional sub pocket or recess, 19, opening out of the main pocket or recess, 9, to give the requisite clearance to the ear or projection, 18, on a cooperating block when the latter is swung out of locking engagement with such hook. As will best be seen in Fig. 3, the parts are so proportioned that when the locking block is placed in its release position the tip of the ear 18 is in advance of the pivotal axis of the block. Therefore, if a pressure transverse of the coupler be applied at the tip of said ear the result will be to swing the locking block toward its locking position. I utilize this characteristic of the locking block in the following way; The parts are so proportioned that when a hook enters a head wherein the locking block is in its release position, the inclined wall, 5, of the hook striking the inclined outer edge, 30, of the corresponding side wall of the coupler head, causes the hook to be pressed laterally against the tip of the ear, 1S, and swing the locking block until the pin 14: swings past a straight line connecting the pivotal axis of the locking block with the axis of the pin 15. Thereupon the block is carried by its actuating spring into locking engagement with the hook.

The locking block may be actuated from without the coupler in any suitable way. In the arrangement shown, there is in the rear end of the coupler head in the vicinity of the longitudinal axis a vertical rotatable shaft, 20, having on the upper end above the coupler head an actuating handle, 21. Fixed to the shaft, within the head, is a bushing or sleeve, 22, having a pair of ra 'dially-projecting arms, 23. The arms 23 are connected to the locking block by a suitable connecting rod, 24:, the front end of which preferably has a laterally-extending fork, 25, which straddles the inner end of the tele scopic rod, 13; thus permitting the pin, M, to be used to attach both the telescopic rod and the connecting rod to the locking block. Furthermore, the lateral bend or turn given to the front end of the connecting rod permits the locking block to be swung around until the point of connection between it and the connecting rod lies on the opposite side of the block from that on which the actuatingshaft, 20, is located. It will be seen that the actuating mechanism may be employed to swing the block in either direction so that in case it should be desired to have the block return to its locking position after having been placed in its release position, all that it would be necessary to do would be to turn the actuating handle in the proper direction.

Itwill thus be seen that I have produced a simple and novel coupler of the rigid hook type in which the reaction between the hook of one coupler and the locking block of an other is on a longitudinal line passing through the pivotal axis of the locking block so that there is no tendency to wed e the hook and the locking block apart. At the same time an automatic coupling may be made regardless of the position in which the locking block happens to be.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the definit-ions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim: I

1. A coupler comprising a chambered head open at the front and having a forwardly-projecting hook at one side, the hook havinga width at the base approximately equal to one half of the width of the head, a horizontally swinging locking block mounted in said head so as to be capable of swinging from a locking position in which it extends longitudinally of the head at the center of the latter into a. release position in which it extends transversely of the head behind the base of the hook, and a shoulder on said block in position to be engaged by the retreating hook of another coupler to cause the block to be swung from its release position toward its locking position by the latter hook during the uncoupling operation.

2. A coupler comprising a chambered head open at the front and having a forwardly-projecting hook at one side, the hook having a width at the base approximately equal to one half of the width of the head, a horizontally-swinging locking block mounted in said head so as to be capable of swinging from a locking position in which it extends longitudinally of the head at the center of the latter into a release position in which it extends transversely of the head he hind the base of the hook, a shoulder on said block in position to be engaged by a retreating hook to cause the block to be swung from its release position toward its locking position by the latter hook during uncoupling, and spring means associated with sald block and adapted to hold it yieldingly in each of its positions.

3, A coupler comprising a chambered head open at the front and having a forwardly-projecting hook at one side, the hook having a width at the base approximately equal to one half the width of the head, a horizontally-swinging locking block mounted in said head so as to be capable of swinging from a locking position in which it extends longitudinally of the head at the center of the latter into a release position in which it extends transversely of the head behind the base of the hook, a shoulder on said block in position to be engaged by the rehaving a width at the base approximately equal to one half of the width of the head, a

horizontally-swinging locking block moun ed in said head so as to be capable of swinging from a locking position in which it extends longitudinally of the head at the center of the latter into a release position in which it extends transversely of the head behind the base of the hook, and a shoulder on said block in position to be engaged by the retreating or entering hook of another coupler to cause the block to be swung from its release position toward its locking position by the latter hook during the uncoupling operation.

5. A coupler comprising a chambered head open at the front and having a forwardly-projecting hook at one side, the hook having a width at the base approximately equal to one-half the Width of the head, a locking block mounted in said head so as to be capable of swinging about a vertical axis arranged at approximately the longitudinal center of the head and capable of swinging from a locking position in which it extends longitudinally of the head into a release position in which it extends transversely of the head behind the base of the hook.

6. A coupler comprising a chambered head open at the front and having a forwardly-projecting hook at one side, a locking block mounted in said head so as to be capable of swinging about a vertical axis passing through its front end from a looking position in which it extends longitudinally of the head into a release position in which it extends transversely of the head, the contours of the outer side wall of the hook and of the side wall of the chamber 1n the head on the opposite side of the head being such that when the hook of one coupler enters the head of the other coupler it is permitted to move straight ahead for a predetermined distance and is then forced laterally toward the longitudinal center line by a wedging action between the outer side of the hook and the adjacent side Wall of the chambered head into which the hook is entering.

7. A coupler comprising a chambered head open at the front and having a forwardly-projecting hook at one side, a locking block mounted in said head so as to be capable of swinging about a vertical axis passing through its front end from a locking position in which it extends longitudinally of the head into a release position in which it extends transversely of the head, the outer side wall of the hook having sections extending parallel with the longitudinal axis and transversely-inclined sections, the side wall of the chambered head on the opposite side of the head from that on which the hook is located having an inner surface ex tending parallel with the longitudinal. axis in position to engage with a similar surface on the adjacent side of the hook of an opposing coupler when two couplers are in coupled relation, the parts being so constructed and arranged that whenever a hook enters the chamber in another coupler it is free to move straight ahead for a predetermined distance and is then forced laterally toward the locking block through the cooperation of the inclined surface thereon and a cooperating surface on the opposed head.

8. A coupler comprising chambered head open at the front end and having a forwardly-projecting hook at one side, a locking block mounted in said head so as to be capable of swinging about a vertical axis passing through its front end from a locking position in which it extends longitudinally of the head into a release position in which it extends transversely of the head behind the base of the hook; said hook having at the inner end an outer side face extending parallel with the longitudinal axis, a reduced front end, and a forwardlyand inwardly-inclined outer side face connecting the aforesaid face with said reduced end; and the outer side wall of the chambered head opposite the side on which the hook lies having a surface adapted to cooperate with said inclined face on the hook of a cooperating coupler so as to push the hook laterally toward the locking block after} it has partially entered the chamber, and having also a surface parallel with the longitudinal axis adapted to engage with the aforesaid surface at the inner'end of the hook when the hook has been completely entered into the chamber after having been moved laterally.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

HERBERT E. VAN DORN. 

